Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community  

Go Back   Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community > The Academy > Tilted Politics


 
 
LinkBack Thread Tools
Old 08-10-2005, 12:36 PM   #41 (permalink)
Lover - Protector - Teacher
 
Jinn's Avatar
 
Location: Seattle, WA
Bodyhammer did you read the article about RAPING AND KILLING? Or did you miss that part.. ? It's far more than funny pictures, thats just all we're allowed to see.

Quote:
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told Congress last year, when the scandal was still front page news: "I mean, I looked at them last night, and they're hard to believe.” They show acts "that can only be described as blatantly sadistic, cruel and inhumane," he added.

A Republican Senator suggested the same day they contained scenes of “rape and murder.” No wonder Rumsfeld commented then, "If these are released to the public, obviously it's going to make matters worse."
And yes, we all know that the terrorists raped and murdered and tortured civilians. That argument is called a straw man. A straw man argument seeks to draw the argument away from the isuse at hand (american mistreatment of prisoners) with a seemingly related issue (iraqi mistreatement of prisoners). You're allowed to use that argumentation strategy, but it does nothing to justify the US treatment. "These guys did something bad, ours wasn't nearly as bad" is what your argument says, without addressing what WE did bad.
__________________
"I'm typing on a computer of science, which is being sent by science wires to a little science server where you can access it. I'm not typing on a computer of philosophy or religion or whatever other thing you think can be used to understand the universe because they're a poor substitute in the role of understanding the universe which exists independent from ourselves." - Willravel

Last edited by Jinn; 08-10-2005 at 12:38 PM..
Jinn is offline  
Old 08-10-2005, 10:24 PM   #42 (permalink)
Junkie
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by JinnKai
Bodyhammer did you read the article about RAPING AND KILLING? Or did you miss that part.. ? It's far more than funny pictures, thats just all we're allowed to see.
What proof is there of this? Some unnamed "Republican Senator". Yeah, that screams credibility. Why, I think based soley on this unsubstantiated, unnamed claim that the whole Bush administration should be arrested /sarcasm.



Quote:
And yes, we all know that the terrorists raped and murdered and tortured civilians. That argument is called a straw man. A straw man argument seeks to draw the argument away from the isuse at hand (american mistreatment of prisoners) with a seemingly related issue (iraqi mistreatement of prisoners). You're allowed to use that argumentation strategy, but it does nothing to justify the US treatment. "These guys did something bad, ours wasn't nearly as bad" is what your argument says, without addressing what WE did bad.
This is really annoying. If you want to lecture people on proper debate form, at least get your terms right. That is not a straw man argument, a straw man argument is deliberately attacking an argument or claim from a weak direction. A straw man argument doesn't seek to divert from one topic to another, it seeks address a topic from a weaker point than the optimum. If anything, his argument would be a circumstantial ad hominem.

And as for that argument, I have yet to see any proof of wrongdoing that would warrant the outcry that liberals make. There was one verified area of humiliating acts being performed on prisoners (not torture) at abu ghraib, and some other issues of harrassment at gitmo (again, not torture). Again, anyone thinking there are "atrocities" being commintted wholesale by the US armed forces has no logical reason for doing so, and believes that because of personal adgenda, not due to evidence.
alansmithee is offline  
Old 08-11-2005, 02:57 AM   #43 (permalink)
undead
 
Pacifier's Avatar
 
Location: Duisburg, Germany
Quote:
Originally Posted by alansmithee
What proof is there of this? Some unnamed "Republican Senator". Yeah, that screams credibility. Why, I think based soley on this unsubstantiated, unnamed claim that the whole Bush administration should be arrested /sarcasm.
and since the administration blocked the release of the pictures we might never know. Lets hope the court forces the administration to release the pics.
__________________
"It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I cannot take seriously. I also cannot imagine some will or goal outside the human sphere. Science has been charged with undermining morality, but the charge is unjust. A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death
— Albert Einstein
Pacifier is offline  
Old 08-11-2005, 02:31 PM   #44 (permalink)
Crazy
 
You know that the pictures will never be released. This incident will be "forgotten".
It make me sick how some people are trying to argue. You cannot use nor justify techniques (namely torture) of a society that you are trying to destroy! That puts you on the same level and deserving to be destroyed.
And, come on, of course torture labs were found. History is written by the winners. If the Iraq would overrun the US, future generations would always think that the US was the biggest evil on earth. Just because you don´t here about cruel actions by the US military on US soil or not does not mean that they don´t happen.
__________________
Knowing is not enough, we must apply.
Willing is not enough, we must do.
Dyze is offline  
Old 08-11-2005, 02:35 PM   #45 (permalink)
Crazy
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by OPgary
Germany is the last one who should worry about prison camps and torture.
If you would educate yourself you would understand that Nazideutschland (which you are undoubtedly refering to) and Deutschland are two different countries.
__________________
Knowing is not enough, we must apply.
Willing is not enough, we must do.
Dyze is offline  
Old 08-12-2005, 09:28 AM   #46 (permalink)
Pissing in the cornflakes
 
Ustwo's Avatar
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dyze
You know that the pictures will never be released. This incident will be "forgotten".
It make me sick how some people are trying to argue. You cannot use nor justify techniques (namely torture) of a society that you are trying to destroy! That puts you on the same level and deserving to be destroyed.
And, come on, of course torture labs were found. History is written by the winners. If the Iraq would overrun the US, future generations would always think that the US was the biggest evil on earth. Just because you don´t here about cruel actions by the US military on US soil or not does not mean that they don´t happen.
So in other words Bush = Saddam?
__________________
Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.
Ustwo is offline  
Old 08-12-2005, 09:57 AM   #47 (permalink)
Illusionary
 
tecoyah's Avatar
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ustwo
So in other words Bush = Saddam?

I am so freakin sick of this metality....Ustwo, why not try to debate rather than instigate a flamewar. If You Cannot At Least Try To Respond To Fellow Members With Intellegent Conversation.....I Will Begin To Delete/Edit Your Posts.

Perhaps this will help.....

From your statement above, I get the impression you consider the United States on par with Pre-war Iraq.


Hmmm....seems a bit more civil, maybe even less likely to get a negative response in return, or would that spoil your fun?
__________________
Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. - Buddha
tecoyah is offline  
Old 08-12-2005, 11:56 AM   #48 (permalink)
Insane
 
joshbaumgartner's Avatar
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Locobot
On the other hand I'm not comfortable with court trials where the defendants are not present and are not able to defend themselves.
I agree, although if a court makes reasonable concessions to allow the presence of the defendants and witnesses, and they decline to attend, then there is not much more one can expect the courts to do.
joshbaumgartner is offline  
Old 08-12-2005, 07:00 PM   #49 (permalink)
Pissing in the cornflakes
 
Ustwo's Avatar
 
Edit: Don't want to even bother.
__________________
Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

Last edited by Ustwo; 08-12-2005 at 07:02 PM..
Ustwo is offline  
Old 08-14-2005, 03:37 PM   #50 (permalink)
Banned
 
Location: BFE
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pacifier
And what will we do if we find Rumsfeld guilty? arrest him as soon as he visits germany again?
Well, the "meathooks" at Plotsensee are still there...and so convenient to Berlin!



From a legal perspective, the idea of "Universal Jurisdiction" is facially preposterous, and certainly is against all American Jurisprudence on the topic. This is a soapbox for the Left, nothing else. And I agree that if Germany keeps this up, America WILL become angry eventually.

Last edited by daswig; 08-14-2005 at 03:43 PM..
daswig is offline  
Old 08-14-2005, 03:45 PM   #51 (permalink)
Banned
 
Location: BFE
Quote:
Originally Posted by joshbaumgartner
I agree, although if a court makes reasonable concessions to allow the presence of the defendants and witnesses, and they decline to attend, then there is not much more one can expect the courts to do.

So you're saying a "show trial" without the defendant being present, much less contributing to his or her defense, is OK? Please cite your rationale for that. Thanks.
daswig is offline  
Old 08-14-2005, 03:46 PM   #52 (permalink)
Banned
 
Location: BFE
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pacifier
and since the administration blocked the release of the pictures we might never know. Lets hope the court forces the administration to release the pics.

I think that such a court would first need to establish that they have the jurisdiction to try the US government under German law. That's a deal-killer right there.
daswig is offline  
Old 08-14-2005, 03:54 PM   #53 (permalink)
Banned
 
Location: BFE
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bodyhammer86
And oddly enough, I don't see anyone on the left condemning the insurgents for how they treat their hostages.

Of course they don't...because a fair number of leftists support the insurgents.

America = bad for using sleep deprivation

Insurgents = good for sawing off people's heads on video.

What's so pathetically funny is that the people that the idiot-fringe far left are supporting are the ones who treat women as chattel, think of homosexuality as a crime punishable by stoning to death or hanging, and who want to eradicate the free press.

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2005/07/321936.shtml

Warning: This link contains pics of homosexuals in distress, shortly before they were executed for being gay.
daswig is offline  
Old 08-14-2005, 04:05 PM   #54 (permalink)
undead
 
Pacifier's Avatar
 
Location: Duisburg, Germany
Quote:
Originally Posted by daswig
I think that such a court would first need to establish that they have the jurisdiction to try the US government under German law. That's a deal-killer right there.
I'm talking about the american court here, the ACLU has requested the release of the pictures under the "freedom of information act"
__________________
"It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I cannot take seriously. I also cannot imagine some will or goal outside the human sphere. Science has been charged with undermining morality, but the charge is unjust. A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death
— Albert Einstein
Pacifier is offline  
Old 08-14-2005, 04:09 PM   #55 (permalink)
Banned
 
Location: BFE
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pacifier
I'm talking about the american court here, the ACLU has requested the release of the pictures under the "freedom of information act"
I think you'll find that FOIA does not apply to things which have a national security exemption, and such photographs most certainly would.
daswig is offline  
Old 08-14-2005, 05:11 PM   #56 (permalink)
Banned
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by daswig
Of course they don't...because a fair number of leftists support the insurgents.

America = bad for using sleep deprivation

Insurgents = good for sawing off people's heads on video.

What's so pathetically funny is that the people that the idiot-fringe far left are supporting are the ones who treat women as chattel, think of homosexuality as a crime punishable by stoning to death or hanging, and who want to eradicate the free press.

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2005/07/321936.shtml

Warning: This link contains pics of homosexuals in distress, shortly before they were executed for being gay.
daswig, please back your statement about leftists "supporting insurgents" with examples of Americans who support enemies of the U.S. who are not natives resisting on their own home territory, with small arms and improvised explosives, against an illegal <b>(see bottom of post)</b> American military invasion/occupation force and it's subcontractors.

As to who initiated the advocacy for the "beheadings" (it's been awhile since I've had the opportunity to counter the US administration's apologists and propagandists with these "shocking" examples of "our side's" track record....)
Quote:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7761272/
NBC News MEET THE PRESS

Sunday, May 8, 2005

Guests: Gary Schroen, former senior CIA agent, Author of “First In: How seven CIA officers opened the war on terrorism in Afghanistan;”

James Carville, political strategist;

Mary Matalin, political strategist

Moderator: Tim Russert, NBC News

MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issues this Sunday: This man, the third ranking al-Qaeda leader, Abu Faraj Al-Libbi, is captured. Why is this man, Osama bin Laden, still on the loose?

And will this man, North Korea's Kim Jong Il, sell nuclear weapons to al-Qaeda or use them to blackmail the world?

With us, Gary Schroen, a CIA officer for 32 years and author of "First In: An Insider's Account of How the CIA Spearheaded the War on Terror in Afghanistan."...........

...........MR. RUSSERT: On September 1, 2001, you began a 90-day phaseout retiring from the CIA. Then came the horrific day of 8:46 AM, September 11, 2001. All our lives changed. You were asked to stay on at the CIA. On September 13th, you were summoned to the office of Cofer Black, the head of counterterrorism for the CIA. What did he tell you? What was your mission?

MR. SCHROEN: The mission was to--the first part of it was to go in and link up with the Northern Alliance, formerly headed by Ahmed Al-Massoud, and to win their confidence and their agreement to cooperate militarily with us. They were the only armed force on the ground in Afghanistan opposing the Taliban. The second part of it was, once the Taliban were broken, to attack the al-Qaeda organization, find bin Laden and his senior lieutenants and kill them.

MR. RUSSERT: Kill them?

MR. SCHROEN: Kill them.

MR. RUSSERT: Wasn't it illegal for us to kill foreign leaders?

MR. SCHROEN: I don't think at that point that the--I think the administration had gotten to the point where bin Laden and his guys were fair game.

MR. RUSSERT: As part of war?

MR. SCHROEN: As part of war.

MR. RUSSERT: Mr. Black gave you specific instructions on what he wanted you to bring home.

MR. SCHROEN: That's true. He did ask that once we got bin Laden and killed him, that we send his head back in a cardboard box on dry ice so that he could take it down and show the president.

MR. RUSSERT: Where would you find the dry ice in Afghanistan?

MR. SCHROEN: That's what I mentioned to him. I said, "Cofer, I think that I can come up with pikes to put the heads of the lieutenants on," which is the second part of what he wanted done. "Dry ice, we'll have to improvise.".......
Quote:
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai.../14/wbin14.xml
Bin Laden alive and threatening attack on Britain in terror tape
By Toby Harnden in Washington
(Filed: 14/11/2002)

..............Six days after the September 11 terrorist attacks, Mr Bush declared that bin Laden was wanted "dead or alive". The previous day, his Vice President Dick Cheney had said that he would willingly accept bin Laden's "head on a platter".

Some senior Bush administration officials were dismayed at the comments, believing they personalised the war against terrorism and opened Mr Bush to criticism should bin Laden prove more elusive than hoped..................

http://www.whitehouse.gov/vicepresid...p20010916.html

............MR. RUSSERT: You wouldn't mind having his head on a platter.

VICE PRES. CHENEY: I would take it today. ................
Quote:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/mid...st/3661134.stm
Thursday, 16 September, 2004, 09:21 GMT 10:21 UK

Iraq war illegal, says Annan

The United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has told the BBC the US-led invasion of Iraq was an illegal act that contravened the UN charter.

He said the decision to take action in Iraq should have been made by the Security Council, not unilaterally. .................

.........'Valid'

"I hope we do not see another Iraq-type operation for a long time - without UN approval and much broader support from the international community," he added.

He said he believed there should have been a second UN resolution following Iraq's failure to comply over weapons inspections.

And it should have been up to the Security Council to approve or determine the consequences, he added.

When pressed on whether he viewed the invasion of Iraq as illegal, he said: "Yes, if you wish. I have indicated it was not in conformity with the UN charter from our point of view, from the charter point of view, it was illegal.".............
Quote:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinio...urplace15.html
Friday, July 15, 2005

War in Iraq violates international law

By TOM KREBSBACH
GUEST COLUMNIST

More than two grueling years have passed since U.S. and coalition forces stormed into the sovereign nation of Iraq. Still there has been little discussion in this country about the legal standing of the invasion.

Perhaps that is because most Americans are reluctant to admit this inconvenient but certain fact: The United States/United Kingdom invasion of Iraq in 2003 was a war of aggression, a crime against the peace as defined by the Nuremberg Principles.

Various legal experts employed by the coalition governments will dispute this. But their arguments are incredibly weak and are not taken seriously by an overwhelming majority of scholars of international law in the world. These independent legal scholars, such people as Sean Murphy of George Washington University, Mary Ellen O'Connell of Ohio State University and Philippe Sands of University College London, all hold that the invasion was a blatant violation of international law.

There are only two cases in which a nation or group of nations can legally undertake armed intervention against another nation: in self-defense against an armed attack or if the United Nations Security Council authorizes a coalition of nations to intervene militarily to maintain peace and security in the world.

Contrary to what the Bush administration would like the world to believe, the invasion of Iraq can be justified neither on the basis of self-defense nor because it was sanctioned by the Security Council.

These are the facts that outline the legal status of the war:

# The primary grievance against Iraq was the claim that it had weapons of mass destruction and ongoing illicit weapons programs.

# The U.N. weapons inspection team was invasively and thoroughly determining whether such weapons or weapons programs existed in Iraq.

# The U.N. Security Council was not willing to grant authority to invade Iraq while the U.N. inspection team was handling the illicit weapons problem peacefully.

# President Bush launched the invasion of Iraq anyway, in contravention of the U.N. Security Council and the U.N. Charter. Without Security Council authorization, the invasion was illegal and must be classified as a war of aggression.

Should Americans be concerned about international law? It is quite clear that Bush has little regard for it. Yet, the United States was founded on the basis of the rule of law. Article VI of the Constitution states that treaties, which this country has signed and ratified, are the "supreme law of the land."

The U.N. Charter is such a treaty, and it was created in large part because of the efforts of this country following World War II. For this country to so egregiously transgress the charter's prohibition on the use of force is not only a violation of international law, it is a violation of our Constitution and a repudiation of much of what this country stands for...............
Quote:
http://www.rrojasdatabank.org/agfran.../msg00140.html
The Chicago Tribune May 23, 1999

WAR CRIMES LAW APPLIES TO U.S. TOO

By Walter J. Rockler

Rockler, a Washington lawyer, was a prosecutor
at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial
........At Nuremberg, the United States and Britain pressed the
prosecution of Nazi leaders for planning and initiating aggressive
war. Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, the head of the
American prosecution staff, asserted "that launching a war of
aggression is a crime and that no political or economic situation can
justify it." He also declared that "if certain acts in violation of
treaties are crimes, they are crimes whether the United States does
them or whether Germany does them, and we are not prepared to
lay down a rule of criminal conduct against others which we would
not be willing to have invoked against us."...............
[quote]
Quote:
http://www.time.com/time/world/artic...431645,00.html
Why Bush Struggles to Win UN Backing
Inspections have found Iraq in violation of disarmament requirements, but have not confirmed Anglo-American claims of an imminent danger. Can the President still convince the UN?
By TONY KARON

Posted Thursday, Mar. 13, 2003
The Bush administration has always insisted it doesn't need UN permission to invade Iraq. President Bush has never left any doubt that the outcome of Security Council deliberations won't stop him from acting to eliminate what he perceives as an imminent threat to U.S. and allied security. When Bush first raised the issue at the UN Security Council last Fall, he did so in the form of a challenge to the international body — follow us to war, or render yourselves irrelevant...............

....................This week's failure by the U.S. and Britain to win backing for a UN ultimatum to Iraq authorizing force if Baghdad fails to meet a 10-day disarmament deadline underscores the fact that the UN process has, if anything, weakened rather than strengthened international support for a war........

...................The reason for the administration's difficulties may be, in part, the nature of the evidence revealed by the UN process. The Bush case for war against Iraq is premised on the idea that not only has Saddam failed to complete the disarmament required of him by the Gulf War truce, but that he is actively pursuing new chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs; and that these, together with what Washington insists is an alliance between Iraq and al-Qaeda, represent a clear and present danger to U.S. security.

But the inspection process has tested some of these claims, and in the process undermined the Bush administration's case. The inspectors found that Iraq has failed to destroy or account for substantial the stocks of chemical and biological weapons left over from its war with Iran, but they have found nothing to back claims of current, active chemical, biological or nuclear programs. Inspectors have made clear to the Council that they have investigated a number of U.S. and British allegations and intelligence tips, which came to naught...........
host is offline  
Old 08-14-2005, 06:04 PM   #57 (permalink)
Banned
 
Location: BFE
Quote:
Originally Posted by host
daswig, please back your statement about leftists "supporting insurgents" with examples of Americans who support enemies of the U.S. who are not natives resisting on their own home territory, with small arms and improvised explosives, against an illegal <b>(see bottom of post)</b> American military invasion/occupation force and it's subcontractors.

As to who initiated the advocacy for the "beheadings" (it's been awhile since I've had the opportunity to counter the US administration's apologists and propagandists with these "shocking" examples of "our side's" track record....)
Due to your post, is there really a need for me to do that? If you insist, I suggest you "take a gander" at sites such as Buzzflash, Democratic Underground, or just listen to Cindy Sheehan. Or, you can simply look at anybody who refers to the insurgents in Iraq as "freedom fighters".
daswig is offline  
 

Tags
abu, criminal, culpability, germany, ghraib, investigation, officials


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On



All times are GMT -8. The time now is 02:41 AM.

Tilted Forum Project

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0 PL2
© 2002-2012 Tilted Forum Project

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360